Another Manic Monday
by planetofmars
Summary: Monday, just another day to try and survive.


**Title:** Another Manic Monday

**Rating:** PG.

**Pairing:** Yusuke/Kurama.

**Summary:** Monday, just another day to try and survive.

**Disclaimer:** I do not own Yu Yu Hakusho, or any of the mentioned characters.

Another Manic Monday

Monday, just another day to try and survive. Yusuke was a little more than stressed out after all that had happened to him, and it wasn't like anyone could really understand what it was he was going through, right now. Yusuke was expected to jump back in to a normal life. Yusuke wanted to jump back into a normal life, he really did.

Breakfast just didn't taste the same, and nothing seemed to fancy his interest. The young man kicked at the gravel that lined the edges of the street. The abandoned warehouse use to be a factory for a local automotive business, but went out a while back. The rundown building had served as a perfect escape for when Yusuke wanted to ditch school. Normally, no one dwell within the place beside some homeless people from time to time. That wasn't the case this morning, however.

An extremely tall man had lunged out from within the shadows, a menacing grin to his face. Yusuke cracked his knuckles in anticipation, it was obvious the guy wasn't human, but Yusuke had no idea what he could possibly want from him. Yusuke, however, didn't care. The guy had just volunteered to be his punching bag. Yusuke smirked at him, inviting him to make the first move. The guy didn't waste any time lunging at him, but didn't make it very far. In fact, he dropped where he stood.

"What the hell just happened?" Yusuke cursed, eyebrow raised in confusion. Brown eyes took note of another figure moving toward him. Out of instinct, Yusuke prepared for another fight, but was quickly disarmed when emerald orbs peered at him quizzically. Kurama, what was he doing here? Yusuke peered over at the demon on the ground, vines wrapping entirely around his body.

"I received word that someone had slipped through unaccounted for."

"Oh, yeah? Why didn't anyone tell me about it?"

"No one could locate you, I'm afraid."

"How sweet of you to come and find me," Yusuke cracked. Kurama merely glanced at him with a look of amusement. The kitsune was still as reserved as he always had been, but Yusuke supposed that that was one of the reasons why he liked him so much. Kurama was hardly ever swayed by emotion like Yusuke was. Kurama could keep a cool head in almost any situation. Yusuke, aware of himself, shook his head suddenly. Yusuke's thoughts had been paying more and more attention to the redhead. It was quite troubling the situation he had found himself in.

"Well, what do we do with him?" Yusuke questions, waving a hand in the trapped demons direction. Kurama glanced back at the intruder he had so easily apprehended, he was harmless.

Kurama looked at Yusuke with a content look on his face and said, "I'm sure someone will stop by and pick him up."

Whoever he was, he was not happy, yelling like an oversized, insolent child as both Kurama and Yusuke bid him farewell. Yusuke had to wonder, why was Kurama here? This location was far from where Kurama normally was. For someone who could go back to being something more, Kurama had a strict schedule here. A family. School. A business to eventually run. Yusuke shrugged his shoulders, it was none of his business to question the things Kurama did, even if the things the redhead did were for him.

"Yusuke, would you be interested in getting lunch with me?" he offers, and why is he so perfect? Yusuke wonders. Yusuke knows, without a doubt, that lunch was a disguise for the other mans concern. They had talked about all of this before, many times. Yusuke didn't want him or anyone else, for that matter, to feel burdened by him. He didn't want to talk about it anymore.

"Uh, no thanks. Not hungry," Yusuke responds, and he felt rather bad for declining. It was rare enough that the two got to see each other, much less talk at lengths. Yusuke merely didn't want to tell Kurama that he wasn't okay.

"Very well then, Yusuke. I hope to see you again soon, under different circumstances, of course," Kurama expressed politely. He didn't seem to be upset by Yusuke's refusal to lunch, and maybe he wasn't, but there were many layers to the fox. Kurama turns to take his leave, but Yusuke doesn't want the other man to go.

"Hey, wait! Why don't I walk you home?"

"I'm flattered, Yusuke, really, but I think I can find my way home."

"You know that's not what I mean!"

"I am aware of that, Yusuke," Kurama laughed, "Shall we go, then?"

Yusuke figures he should tell him that his jokes weren't funny. Perplexing, maybe, but not funny to anyone but him. Yusuke thought better of it he had already made an ass out of himself. The day was abnormally hot for this time of year, but still rather comfortable. The two men fell into step with each other, walking in a comfortable silence, or what could be perceived as such.

Yusuke was aching to tell him all that he was experiencing on the inside. The former detective had no doubt that Kurama allowed him to accompany him home because he knew that Yusuke was reaching out to him, even if his friend didn't want to say anything out loud. Yusuke had to make a decision sooner or later about whether or not he should confide in him. When it came down to it, Yusuke had to ask himself whether or not he trusted Kurama. Did he? Of course he did. If there was one person he could trust, it was Kurama.

"It's okay to be concerned, Yusuke. It's more than alright to be frustrated, given your current predicament," Kurama muses, and that's without Yusuke having to say anything. It was as unnerving as it was comforting how well the redhead could piece him together, considering how little Yusuke understood him.

"I keep wondering if I'm living the wrong life...wasting it...wasting Keiko's life."

"If anything, Yusuke, you must understand that there is a life here in the living world as well as the demon world. You see, the people you love here and now will not always be. When this way of life ends, there will still be time for you to explore that other side of you," Kurama chimes, keeping his eyes fixed ahead of himself. What he said was so clear and yet so hard to grasp. At the same time, Yusuke felt utterly relieved. He understood now that he didn't have to chose between the two people he wanted most in his life. Yusuke knew that Kurama understood this as well, had spent much time thinking about the same situation. Kurama was telling him that it was okay, that there would be time for them.

Kurama's home appeared in the distance, but Yusuke could have walked another ten and a half miles if it meant spending more time with the kitsune. Yusuke liked the guy, okay. He had no issue with that, and he could wait if it meant being able to lead a life with him.

"Well, this it where I say goodbye," Kurama announced, and Yusuke doesn't want him to, doesn't want him to leave. He's feeling good, light on his feet; happy. With a quick work of his hands, Yusuke brings Kurama towards him, embracing him tightly before pressing his lips roughly against the other mans lips. Those emerald orbs, they were so forgiving, so redeeming in quality.

Yusuke was uncertain when he had fallen in love with Kurama, but figured that wasn't important. That falling for the fox was inevitable; just a matter of time he remembered telling himself. Kurama had helped him to grow and understand, and against all better judgment, had loved Yusuke back. Porcelain fingertips through raven tresses affectionately. The touch was intimate, bittersweet.

"There will be a time, in the future, for us," Kurama promises, pressing their foreheads gently together. It truly was bittersweet, but a distant future was better than no future at all.

"Just for us, right?"

"Right."


End file.
